Pete Bevacqua ʼ93 Staff

Peter ‘Pete’ Bevacqua ’93 succeeded Jack Swarbrick as vice president and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics on March 25, 2024. Bevacqua joined the University on July 1, 2023 in the role of Special Assistant to the President for Athletics, benefiting from the mentorship of Swarbrick before assuming leadership of the athletics department.

In his term on campus prior to moving into his Athletic Director position, Bevacqua helped negotiate and finalize an extension to Notre Dame and NBC’s partnership and develop a framework with the College Football Playoff Management Committee to solidify a new television contract with ESPN.

Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Bevacqua was the third chairman in the history of NBC Sports, leading NBC Sports in its unprecedented collection of assets and platforms, which included NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, the Golf Channel, NBC Sports Digital, NBC Sports Next and NBC Sports on Peacock. He also has been the network’s chief steward of NBC’s unique, exclusive broadcast rights agreement with Notre Dame football.

Bevacqua serves as a co-chair of RISE, an alliance of major sports organizations, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and the NCAA that promotes racial equality across the U.S. sports landscape. He serves as co-chair of RISE with Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations for the NFL.

Bevacqua’s background and field vision in the world of sports business is of great value to Notre Dame. He led all aspects and business operations of NBC Sports and was responsible for its overall strategy. Together with his team, Bevacqua completed numerous rights agreements across the national and international sports landscape. Most recently, in August 2022, NBCUniversal and the Big Ten Conference reached a seven-year agreement for NBC and Peacock to become the exclusive home of Big Ten Saturday Night football. In March 2021, NBCUniversal and the NFL agreed to an 11-year extension for NBC Sports to continue as the home of Sunday Night Football, primetime television’s number one show for an unprecedented 12 consecutive years.

In addition to Notre Dame football, Bevacqua also oversaw NBC’s coverage of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Major League Baseball, the English Premier League, NASCAR, WWE, the Kentucky Derby, IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, the Tour de France, French Open, USFL and numerous golf properties, including the PGA Tour, USGA Championships, the Men’s and Women’s U.S. Open Championships, LPGA, Ryder Cup and DP World Tour.

He previously served as chief executive officer of the PGA of America, where he guided the business and overall strategy of one of the world’s largest sports organizations. Under his leadership, the PGA designed and implemented a long-term strategic plan that focused on the Association’s mission to serve the PGA Member and grow the game. Among his many accomplishments, Bevacqua steered the announcement that the PGA Championship—one of golf’s four majors—will be conducted annually in May for the first time in 70 years, beginning in 2019.

Before joining the PGA, Bevacqua served as Global Head of Golf at Creative Artists Agency (CAA Sports). He was also Chief Business Officer for the USGA and served as the first Managing Director of the U.S. Open Championship. Additional roles Bevacqua has had include: World Golf Foundation Board of Directors’ Chairperson; a PGA World Alliance leadership team member; Chairperson of the International Golf Federation, a group that was instrumental in golf’s return to the Olympics; and a special advisor to the Captains Club for The Memorial Tournament. A former SportsBusiness Journal “Forty Under 40” honoree, Bevacqua also received the 2016 March of Dimes Sports Leadership Award.

Bevacqua graduated from the University of Notre Dame magna cum laude, with a B.A. in English. He earned a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in 1997, where he graduated cum laude. He began his career as a legal associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York City. Bevacqua and his wife, Tiffany, have three children.